Unilever calls Pears review

CPG giant plots new campaign to revive one of the world's oldest brands.

Pears, one of the world’s oldest brands, is holding a pitch to find a global creative agency.

Unilever, which owns the soap brand, is plotting a worldwide above-the-line campaign to reinvigorate the Pears portfolio.

The CPG giant is handling the pitch in-house. As Campaign went to press, the process had not progressed past the RFI stage. Unilever is understood to be open to traditional, digital and social campaign ideas.

Pears was established in 1789 by Andrew Pears and became the first registered brand in the world.

In the second half of the 19th century, it was run by Thomas J. Barratt, who became an advertising pioneer, most famously buying the copyright to Sir John Everett Millais’ painting Bubbles to use in one of his ads.

Unilever changed Pears’ formula in 2009 but abandoned the new recipe after widespread complaints by consumers on social media about the soap’s smell and feel.